Can I use classical music?

[Best]

I have some music at home and it is classical. I want to know, if I can use that. I mean - there are no rights as for example 2PAC or so. I mean, there is not only one company distributing Beethowen in the world. Am I right and Im able to use it or nah?

Thanks

Best Willis

[Timosity]

As far as classical music goes, I think that 50 years after the artist dies, the copyright is expired, same with paintings. I think this is pretty universal.

There some copyrights that expire at different times, and is different in different countries. eg you take a photo, it is copyright to you automatically (unless you sign the rights over to someone else eg. if you work for a paper or magazine) I think photos are copyright for a certain amount of years from the date the photo is taken.

music and lyrics are also seperate copyrights.

I studied this years ago and it's all quite vague, I'm sure other people know these things clearer. you could probably look these things up using google.

just wait another 24 years or so and watch how much Elvis shit is released by everyone, same will happen with John Lennon etc

Then Elvis will come out of hiding and Sue everyone

[Ferret]

Most classical music, although you know who originally made it, does not have copyright laws applied to it. Mostly because at the time of their creation, there was no means of copyrighting said items and since their original creators have long since passed away, there is no way for them to get copyrighted.

You can use classical music in your games without the need to pay royalties, but you will need to either remake the tune yourself or find someone who doesn't mind you using their copy. Also, mention the song in your credits. Respect the dead and all.

[Scummbuddy]

I am the great great great great great great + 12 or so nephew of Mozart and thus entitled to any money capable of being brought in by the song, plus any unauthorized use of it.  

Basically, just send me money, and I'll take care of it.

[tamper]

Generally for any recorded work (music or otherwise), seperate copyrights exist for the author(s) of the work, the performer of the work, and the owner of the recording (although these latter two are generally the same body).

So for example, if you had the Naxos CD of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture you wouldn't be able to legally use the music without first clearing it with Naxos - regardless of the fact that the 1812 Overture as a piece of music is out of copyright.

It's possible you could get around this by using a MIDI file of the music, but technically speaking even this could be copyrighted by the arranger of the file.

Hope this helps,
t

[Gregjazz]

Although the music itself is not copyrighted, the book from which you use the music is copyrighted. For example, if you're using a Beethoven Sonata from the Peter's Edition, you will have to pay royaltees to the company that makes the Peter's Edition.

You can get by this, however, by modifying a few notes to make the music untraceable.

[taryuu]

to make all this simple.  

beethoven's 5th symphony is not copyrighted anymore.  the paticular "arrangement" of said symphony is.  

feel free to use whatever classical music  you like so long as it's not a direct copy of someone else's arrangement of said work.

clear as mud?

good.

[EldKatt]

Although the music itself is not copyrighted, the book from which you use the music is copyrighted. For example, if you're using a Beethoven Sonata from the Peter's Edition, you will have to pay royaltees to the company that makes the Peter's Edition.

You can get by this, however, by modifying a few notes to make the music untraceable.

If, however, Peter's Edition had happened to be entirely faithful to the original manuscript, or an early edition, there's no royalty to be payed. It's just if anything new is put in that there's any point in that.

By the way, it should go without saying that you should only use music by composers who have been dead for at least fifty years or something like that. So there is some music that people call 'classical' (citation marks because I don't always like to use the word in such a broad sense) that still isn't free from copyright.

Also, you should write the composer's name (and, I would personally prefer, the name and/or opus number of the work) in the credits. I don't know if there are any laws about this, but it's a simple question of respect for somebody else's work. Yeah.

[remixor]

Here's how I would explain it:

If you record your own version of a classical piece (say, Beethoven's 5th), MIDI being the most common way for AGS games, then you do not need to pay royalties to anybody.

If you use an existing recording in your game, that particular RECORDING is owned by somebody else and thus you would need to pay royalties to them.  You just wouldn't have to ALSO pay royalties to the composer.

If you use an existing recording which the author has put in the public domain, you obviously don't need to pay royalties.  This is often common with MIDI files found on the internet.


Your post leads me to believe that you are going to be using music you already have recordings of.  This would require you to pay royalties to the person or group who recorded it.  In practice, though, if you just use it in an AGS game and don't make any money from it, nobody will really care.

[InCreator]

Oh well, what the heck. Use classics and don't worry, Beethoven, Mozart, and rest of the crew are dead and I don't think they'll mind... Maybe you're just going to have problems with ghosts or something like that.  But expect to get a good beat-up when meeting those guys in the other world